Tag: Female

I would just like to say a massive thank you to all those at Webers Circus for allowing me free rein in moving around where I wanted too and the giving me of their precious time to make this series. I couldn’t have done it without any of you.

When I started this series I was hoping I didn’t get too caught up in making pictures that where cliched and easy to make. As circus acts are full of colour and fast action with lots going on, it would have been easy to concentrate on as it’s quite wonderful to watch. This series was to be about people.

A circus is not a circus without it’s talent and talent only comes from people who put in long hours of work, training and practicing their skills. The following portfolio of images was made over two days at the end of an evening’s show. I wanted each image to show the person and not be specific to any act, just a study. Not having anytime to pre-plan any of these shots I had to bite the bullet and wing it. I started off by shooting the ring master centre of the ring but it just wasn’t working, the image needed layering, I noticed this early as the camera was tethered to a computer giving me a much larger frame for the eye to explore and notice any problems, which it did, plus the subject can see what is working and what’s not, this helped with things like props and lipstick. Lighting was natural, whatever was available in my space supplemented with a flash fired through a soft-box. ISO was set high to get as much detail as possible and I allowed light to bleed where it wanted so that I could get the cinematic effect I was chasing. Colour grading was done as much as possible in Capture One with things like curves, levels, dodging and burning done in Photoshop later.

This series has been a dream for me to shoot and I have enjoyed every last moment of it, it’s taken a very long time for the opportunity to come round and Im grateful to everybody. Thank you Webers Circus.